The Illustrated London Reading Book eBook

The lowermost sail of the mast, called thence the
mainsail, or foresail; the topsail,
carried by the topsail-yard; the top-gallant-sail;
and above this there is also set a royal sail,
and again above this, but only on emergencies, a sail
significantly called a sky-sail. Besides
all this, the three lowermost of these are capable
of having their surface to be exposed to the wind increased
by means of studding sails, which are narrow
sails set on each side beyond the regular one, by
means of small booms or yards, which can be
slid out so as to extend the lower yards and topsail-yards:
the upper parts of these additional sails hang from
small yards suspended from the principal ones, and
the boom of the lower studding-sails is hooked on to
the chains. Thus each of the two principal masts,
the fore and main, are capable of bearing no less
than thirteen distinct sails. If a ship could
be imagined as cut through by a plane, at right angles
to the keel, close to the mainmast, the area,
or surface, of all the sails on this would be five
or six times as great as that of the section or profile
of the hull!

The starboard studding-sails are on the fore-mast,
and on both sides of the main-top-gallant and main-royal;
but, in going nearly before a wind, there is no advantage
derived from the stay-sails, which, accordingly, are
not set. The flying-jib is to be set to assist
in steadying the motion.

The mizen-mast, instead of a lower square-sail like
the two others, has a sail like that of a cutter,
lying in the plane of the keel, its bottom stretched
on a boom, which extends far over the taffarel, and
the upper edge carried by a gaff or yard sloping
upwards, supported by ropes from the top of the mizen-mast.

All these sails, the sky-sails excepted, have four
sides, as have also the sprit-sails on the bowsprit,
jib-boom, &c.; and all, except the sail last mentioned
on the mizen, usually lie across the ship, or in planes
forming considerable angles with the axis or central
line of the ship. There are a number of sails
which lie in the same plane with the keel, being attached
to the various stays of the masts; these are
triangular sails, and those are called stay-sails
which are between the masts: those before the
fore-mast, and connected with the bowsprit, are the
fore stay-sail, the fore-topmast-stay-sail,
the jib, sometimes a flying jib, and
another called a middle jib, and there are two
or three others used occasionally. Thus it appears
that there are no less than fifty-three different
sails, which are used at times, though, we believe,
seldom more than twenty are set at one time,
for it is obviously useless to extend or set a sail,
if the wind is prevented from filling it by another
which intercepts the current of air.